The shooting death of an unarmed black teenager by a Ferguson, Mo. police officer brought about controversy nation-wide. Police suited-up in gear, and community members fled to the streets in hopes of getting their voices heard.

"If the police are going to serve as a community agent to serve and protect, they need to be working with the community instead of against the community," Spring Hill College Assistant Professor of the Department of Sociology Demetrius Semien said to AL.com

He began the interview with expressing sadness of the situation, that another teenager is no longer with us. The shooting brought about tear gas and rubber bullets, and Semien is glad that the community is concerned about this response.

"Police officers need to be equipped with the tools to handle their job responsibilities, and I think that's a good thing but I also think they need to be equipped with other skills such as conflict resolution skills and racial and ethnic sensitivity training," Semien said.

He explained that there's a different "social reality" that's happening, where police officers are ethnically diverse from the community they patrol and that hinders communication. This communication barrier brings fear to police officers, according to Semien. Fear might have caused the excessive use of equipment by police in Ferguson.

"People are feeling like they're in a military state, a police state, because they're being stopped and questioned constantly. They're driving while black, or driving while poor," Semien said.

"We don't need to have situations where the communities are afraid of those who are protecting and serving them, and police are afraid because they have no communication with community members to work with them.

"Excessive force is never excusable. If the fear police are living with forces them to shoot unarmed teenagers, that's something we can't live with nationally," Semien explained.